


Listen

by GalaxyAqua



Category: Dangan Ronpa, Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Conversations, F/F, Perceptive Kirigiri strikes again
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-08
Updated: 2015-06-08
Packaged: 2018-04-03 11:09:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4098856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalaxyAqua/pseuds/GalaxyAqua
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sayaka Maizono always listens. She's happy to listen. She'll let the clock tick minutes and hours away, burdens lifting from other people's shoulders as they vent to her about all they care to enclose, and simply listens. Perhaps if she listens, she'll be able to make people happy after all - since nobody ever seemed to listened to her, truly; no-one ever heard the small, lonely voice of Sayaka's heart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Listen

**Author's Note:**

> kirizono? kirizono. 
> 
> also inferenced qp(queer-platonic)!naezono bc I really just want them to be bros that stick together ok

"Hey Maizono, do you have a minute?"

Of course she has a minute, she tells him softly - a boy in her class, Makoto Naegi, who looks at her imploringly and blinks his bright green eyes. He fidgets with his uniform sleeve, expression unsettled, as if he feels he is intruding. It's an endearing gesture. "Is something on your mind?" She smiles, urging him to continue the conversation, because she's always going to make time; for anyone who just needs someone to listen.

"Well, yes," sniffs Naegi, "But are you super sure you're not busy?"

"It's fine," she giggles, dainty hand reaching over her lips, politely concealing impertinent laughter. "Whatever it is, I'll listen."

And she does.

Sayaka Maizono always listens. She's happy to listen. She'll let the clock tick minutes and hours away, burdens lifting from other people's shoulders as they vent to her about all they care to enclose - sometimes it's trivial things like the latest and greatest insult as delivered by Byakuya Togami, and sometimes it's more like deciding on suitable career paths or dealing with parental stress or questioning their sexuality - but regardless, she always listens. 

Sayaka Maizono is a listener. It is as simple as that. 

She's heard all of their resident baseball player Leon Kuwata's antics, on about how "music is my true destiny" and "sorry coach Nidai I wasn't sick, I was just skipping practice, please don't hurt me".

She's heard Junko Enoshima drawl on with "society's expectations; they're  _so_ lame, you know? You would know, you're an idol, duh. But like, you get me, right?" and the model's twin sister Mukuro Ikusaba, lamenting her sister's plight with an "I honestly want to help her out, but the whole 'model' scheme... isn't really my kinda thing."

She's heard ice queen Celestia Ludenberg, ever rare but always present, with a "wouldn't you prefer to be served by others than to serve? It is simply a divine experience - being in control, don't you agree? When you're in control, you cannot be likened to the masses."

She's even heard renowned gangster Mondo Oowada out once - that one time, a long time ago, when he grumbled about "the fuck is so sissy about likin' animals and shit, huh? Dude in the grade above us is the fuckin' animal king, and no-one gives him shit for that, do they? No! Bunch'a losers..."

Sayaka listens, Sayaka hears, and then Sayaka never tells a soul.

That's why, after Naegi's long-winded rant and concluding grateful grin, she watches him go, and doesn't move from her seat. 

What she's heard in that room, will never leave that room. That's the way it has always been. It's because of this that she's happy to listen, and that others are happy to tell. Her long, navy hair flutters as she lets go of a quiet sigh. It's not regretful, not in any sense, simply tiring.

She realizes, and has realized for some time, that listening to people gets tiring. It's not Naegi; he's the sweetest thing she's ever met in all honesty - it's just everything. Everything that's piled up. Every fear she's listened to, every worry, every frustration. But it's okay, isn't it? She's happy to listen. She's always been happy to listen.

Taking deep breaths, she lets the tension go - and gets ready to go home.

* * *

In magazines, and in interviews, often journalists write that it's a grand privilege to be able to 'listen' to Sayaka Maizono's thoughts, straight from the girl herself. A girl with an immense talent for dominating the idol industry; an industry well known for the manufactured quality of their performers, and the pseudo-perfection that they embody. It's almost laughable, in that sense, because what they're hearing is not the real Sayaka. The  _real_ Sayaka cannot afford to speak from the heart.

But Sayaka Maizono is not a speaker, she is a listener. So that's okay.

It's okay, if no-one truly ever listens to her. No-one needs to. Not when her ears are prepared to listen, not when freeing other people's worries is what fuels her happiness. Making others happy is the one thing in the world that makes her happy, after all. Never mind that ...

"Um, Maizono...? Could I speak with you for a minute...?"

"Oh! Of course, take all the time you need," she replies as she always does, taking in soft, fluffy hair and nervous, fleeting eyes. Chihiro Fujisaki - specialist in programming, and taker of the title of the school's most adorable puppy (second only to the school's only  _actual_ puppy) - stands beside her desk, smoothing out a brown uniform skirt. 

"I... I'd just like to ask you something. Can we talk in private?"

"Sure," she smiles, kindly, sweetly, getting up and pushing her chair in quietly. She offers a hand, waiting for the programmer to take it. "I'm listening."

She's always listening. Sayaka, the listener.

Fujisaki's expression eases, relief washing over the programmer's gentle features. "Thank you so much..! You don't know how much this means to me."

"It's not a problem," she says as they're walking down the hallway, hand-in-hand. "I'm here for you."

She's always been listening.

... but when did listening become so lonely?

* * *

"Maizono Sayaka!" 

"Yes, Ishimaru?" 

"I would like to request a meeting with you, at your nearest availability!"

"Ah? A meeting? I'm free right now, if you would just like to talk!"

"T-then it is fine to talk... right now? Without planning beforehand?"

"Of course it's fine, silly! What's on your mind? Something been bothering you?"

"Ah, well... yes, you see..."

She loves to listen. She's happy to listen.

At least when she listens, people look to her as if she's important.

* * *

"Hey Maizono! Up for a chat?"

"Asahina, it'd be my pleasure!" 

"Oh man, do I have so much to tell you! Do you have the time?"

"I do, actually! What is it you'd like to say?"

"Well, y'know, I was just thinking..."

She's glad to be able to listen.

At least when she listens, she doesn't have to think about all those times when her parents neglected to listen to her; ignored her every word until she had nothing she wanted to say to them anymore.

* * *

"O-oi, y-you, you've been giving pep talks or something lately, haven't you? Maizono Sayaka..."

"Hm? Maybe you could call them that. Would you like to talk about something too, Fukawa?"

"N-n-no! Why would I w-want to speak to someone like y-you? I was j-just asking, geez..."

"Well, if anything's troubling you, my ears are always open. Just say the word!"

"I-I said I didn't want to talk to you! D-don't act like we're f-friends!"

"I said 'if'! How have things been? Still doing well with Togami?"

"Ugh, I want to make things c-clear to you! Don't speak about Byakuya s-so casually! Listen here you..."

Listening is not pushing her own troubles away, she tells herself. It is embracing the problems of others. She's happy just listening. Perfectly happy.

At least when she listens, she can forget that what she wanted all along was someone who would listen to her. Someone who wouldn't brush her off, or listen through eyes of celebrity infatuation. Is... that what she wanted?

What about her idol group? They listen, don't they? They understand, they complain with her - to her - and they listen.

... do they  _listen_ , or is that just for their image?

* * *

"Maizono."

She turns around at the sound of her name, familiar yet falling from an unfamiliar voice. This is a first, she nods to herself, taking in rich purple eyes and lavender hair. She's expected this to come eventually. Sayaka is completely ready for this, she thinks, no matter what bombshell Kyouko Kirigiri is going to drop on her - after taking over a year to approach her for this very purpose. She had been debating whether Kirigiri or Togami would break first, admittedly, and it seems that the detective's shell had finally been weakened enough to grant the idol this chance.

She ignores the dull thudding in her chest that speeds up when the detective approaches, blaming it all on the intimidating air that persistently surrounded the other, just from her resting smirk and clipped attitude. Her  _attractive_ resting smirk, Sayaka's conscience pipes in unawares, and she slaps her cheeks in recoil, wiping away any time-inappropriate thoughts regarding her classmate's appearance.

"Kirigiri! Hello! What brings you here today?"

"Nothing, really." The girl's lips are pressed into a thin line. It's a cue, demonstrating the disgruntlement of Kyouko Kirigiri, and Sayaka gulps. The detective crosses her arms, watching her; almost accusatory. "What are you still doing here? School ended half an hour ago. In fact, you're here every day. Why?"

Observant. As long as Sayaka has been listening to everyone, she knows Kirigiri has been making her own observations. Nothing slips past eyes like that.

"I'm always taking my time," Sayaka smiles, hoping she appears more inviting this way. "You know, just relaxing."

"At school?"

"Yes, silly. This is school."

Kirigiri flops down on the desk in front of her, gloved hand flicking long locks over her shoulder. Sayaka finds herself staring for just a moment too long, before she shakes it off as nothing. The detective regards her coolly, quickly organizing the words in her head, before she comes out with a: "So it wouldn't be too far-fetched to assume that you're the one who's been playing class counselor for what, the past year?"

She nods, for lack of a better response. "If that's what you want to call it. Would you like to talk?"

It's only brief, but a smile crosses Kirigiri's face. "Nah, I'm good. Just wanted to know."

Sayaka isn't fazed. Not really. She's listened to poker face Celestia for goodness' sake - she's pretty sure Kirigiri will come to her when the time is right. She's always ready to listen to everyone and anyone, so what's waiting a while longer? She watches the detective twirl her braid idly between her fingers, as if contemplating what to say next. She wonders idly what it would be like to have a braid like that of her own.

"You're not alone, by the way." Kirigiri comments, after a pause, and Sayaka has no idea what she means by this (or maybe she does, but she can't possibly entertain the idea of someone  _understanding_ ). She fidgets.

She hopes it doesn't sound like she's coming on to the other girl, when she goes with a reply like "I'm here with you, after all."

Kirigiri lets another tiny smile slip, "Don't take all the burdens on by yourself. Our class, despite its shortcomings, are in it together. That includes you."

"I - " Sayaka goes to say, but a gloved hand halts her knowingly.

There's a swift tap on the door frame. "Sorry to interrupt." Booms surprisingly graceful Sakura Oogami, head angled down in reverence. "Are you two busy? I shall return at another time."

Sayaka opens her mouth to object, to welcome their classmate in, but Kirigiri beats her to it, landing quickly on her feet. "Come in, Oogami, I was just done here. Don't be shy."

Lilac hair disappears around the corner before the idol can let out even a word, and waving her hand to both Oogami and the vanishing Kirigiri, Sayaka settles down to do what she does best. She can't let herself get distracted, she thinks, and tries hard to forget about the visit from perceptive eyes and lavender tresses.

"Is there something on your mind, Oogami?"

"Indeed. Though you need not remedy it. I simply wish to - "

"Don't worry about it. I'm listening."

Oogami sits. "It's a long tale."

The idol smiles. "I've got time."

She is Sayaka the listener, after all.

* * *

That isn't the only time Kirigiri visits her after school, but it marks the beginning of an unexpected, long-winding pattern. After that day, the detective has found a habit in simply sitting in the room, and they talk only sometimes, while other times they sit in peaceful quiet. She waits alongside Sayaka, until someone comes to share their problems to someone who will listen - and as always, like a practiced routine, Kirigiri would slip out and let them converse; and as to where she went after that, Sayaka had no clue.

At times, she thinks, she would like to give chase - but she remembers that it's not her business until Kirigiri makes it her business, so she settles with not knowing and pretending she doesn't care.

"... and I just don't get it! They don't trust me at all! Even if I've proven the 30% accuracy!" 

She tunes in to the voice of Hagakure, drumming his fingers on the desk in front of her and gesturing dramatically.

"It's how I got into Hope's Peak in the first place, y'know? I don't understand, Maizono-chi..."

"It'll get better over time," she reassures him, and maybe also reassures herself. "It always does."

Sayaka continues to listen, because it's something she can do. It takes her mind off things - listening to other people's problems - and she can stop thinking about the arguments between her parents that she had witnessed again last night; and the way her career is treading on thin ice, what with other performers spiting her for being scouted by Hope's Peak. Her own bandmates... even though they had promised they would always be together... 

It's fine, if she can listen. She'll listen. It's the least she can do.

"But the dilemma is that I can't fathom which of these stellar characters are more popular," grumbled Yamada to her on another sunset evening, "and if I don't get it right this time, then...! My poor Buuko will be disappointed if my ranking drops! I thought that you would understand, if it's rankings and that... being a school idol, after all."

"Hmm, that  _is_ a problem." Sayaka tips her head thoughtfully. "When's the deadline?"

"That doesn't matter! I don't need sleep until the day of the convention, hoho... but which one, which one..."

She tries not to be biased, but she's quite partial to the braided anime character in the maid outfit that he's drawn, and tells him so.

Such a good listener, that girl. She's always happy to listen. Kirigiri's words echo in her head - "don't take all the burdens on by yourself" - but she ignores it. Listening isn't a burden, she tells herself. It's an outlet. It's free.

"I am not asking for your inferior advice," chides Togami, as if he wasn't the one who stayed behind in the first place. Another day, another time. "Quit with your impudence."

"I didn't say anything yet," she tells him pointedly, but smiles all the same. So he did eventually decide to show up. She's not as surprised as she should be, but she certainly is wholly intrigued. Sayaka crosses her fingers and hopes this session won't be an angst-filled ramble about money and first-world-problems. "Won't you sit down?"

"If you breathe a word of this..."

"My lips are sealed."

What she finds out, makes her rethink Kirigiri's words, over and over again.

"Not a word." He concludes, eyes like daggers. She knows he could ruin her life ten times over, but that's not what will inevitably keep her mouth shut. 

"Thank you for letting me listen," she tells him, genuinely moved. She doesn't dare touch Togami after that conversation, and allows him the dignity to exit as if nothing had transpired. When his footsteps fade, she thinks about "burdens".

She also thinks about Kirigiri, and how the girl had told her so succinctly; "You are not alone."

Her last thought before she too leaves the classroom is that she will not stop being Sayaka the listener, no matter how much it starts to hurt.

She's doesn't mind listening. Let her listen. All the things she's told... they'll become her secrets, and she'd never tell.

* * *

"Hey, Maizono."

She thinks it strange, one day, when Kirigiri doesn't show up to wait with her. She knows she shouldn't be so dependent on other people - but a routine had settled, and she had been in no hurry to rid of it. She doesn't think too much of it though (perhaps she is a little disappointed, but it's not like it matters), when once again, Naegi appears at the door, and she welcomes him in with open arms.

However, instead of what she expected him to say - something within the routine she had established for everyone, she supposes - he asks  _her,_ "Are you okay?"

Sayaka blinks, her gentle lashes flickering in the movement, bare astonishment written across her face. She quickly recovers. "What do you mean? I'm fine! How are you?"

Naegi sighs, ever so softly, threading fingers nervously through his thick brown locks. In a fond memory, the gesture reminds her of their most memorable 'first' meeting - when he had confessed his affection to her in middle school. She's slightly ashamed to think that she's glad they got over that one quickly. "I'm ... fine. I just - um, well." He hesitates. "You know if you ever need to talk about anything, I'm here for you, right?"

Her gaze softens, blue eyes warm. "I know," she tells him, unable to bite back the hypocritical: "I will. Bottling things up isn't good, you know?"

"It's not." He agrees lightly, as if he doesn't quite believe what she's saying. After a moment, he adds, "Kirigiri is worried about you."

Sayaka is only mildly surprised this time, because if anyone can see through her carefully constructed facade - it could only be the detective herself. "Tell her I'm fine, then. But it's nice of her to worry."

Naegi's lips quirk at this, "It is. She usually doesn't care this much. Have you been working your magic on her without anyone noticing?"

Sayaka giggles, her slender hands covering her mouth as she does so, trying to ignore the way her heart felt light at his words, and the way a delicate blush crept up her neck. "Something like that."

It eases into comfortable small talk after a while, and without realizing it, Sayaka slowly lets her perfect mask slip, lets herself laugh more openly and at one point even manages a playful punch to Naegi's shoulder (he retaliated by going on and on about how much it supposedly hurt, though his smile never faded).

By the end of their conversation, Naegi seems to have gotten all he needed from her and shoots her one last smile as he glances at the clock. 5:30pm. 

"See you tomorrow," he says, slinging his bag over his shoulder. "It was nice talking to you."

"You too," she replies, the most sincere she has been in a while.

He makes it to the door, when a mischievous expression takes over his face, and he leaves with a quick "Look cute for tomorrow!" His cryptic words fall into the silence of the room before he scurries off, leaving Sayaka wondering  _why_.

* * *

The answer reveals itself, indeed, on the morrow, when she arrives at school somewhat cuter than usual - she substitutes her simple, slim white hairclips for smaller, studded bow-laden clips and slips a rabbit necklace beneath the school necktie - and the classroom is, for lack of a better term, strangely silent. Kirigiri is sitting in the idol's desk, as if she had always sat there, and barely casts a look Sayaka's way before she asks, "Where is everyone?"

The idol shrugs, just as perplexed as she is, and to save the other girl potential embarrassment, decides she will sit at Kirigiri's desk for the day, until the detective noticed (though she didn't doubt the girl already knew). 

"Actually," Kirigiri commences after a short lull, "I sent them all away. I wanted to talk to you about something." 

"Couldn't wait?" Sayaka ventures, albeit a little nervously. Why had she found the need to send everyone away just to talk? She supposes she would never understand the girl, but goodness how she wanted to. "What's up?"

"Sorry I didn't show yesterday." Kirigiri states passively, ignoring the question for the time being. "I told Naegi to go instead. He did, didn't he?"

"Ah, yes!" She nods enthusiastically, "He sent his regards, well,  _your_ regards, yesterday. It's all good."

"Did he say anything... else?" 

Sayaka tilts her head to the side, pondering. "What do you mean?"

"Never mind." Kirigiri shifts awkwardly in her seat. "Can we talk?"

"Of course! What about?" She only hopes the look on her face is somehow inviting, because all Sayaka can feel is her increasing level of nervousness as she realizes no-one is going to interrupt their conversation this time. As for why exactly she feels so tense around the other girl... she can only say she has no idea. She couldn't still be intimidated by Kirigiri, could she...? They'd been talking like friends for... well, months now.

"You look nice today." blurts Kirigiri, out of the blue. 

Sayaka flushes, hiding it under the guise of looking at the ground, "W-what?"

"Shit." She answers eloquently, brushing aside a lock of lavender hair before playing it off as nothing. "So, I was wondering what you were going to do for your birthday."

Also trying to pretend the spontaneous compliment had not affected her at all, Sayaka lets her face burn as she steels her voice. She supposed it had slipped her mind, but her birthday is this weekend, isn't it? Here's to another year of suppressing herself from everyone. Come to think of it, did she even have plans this year...? The idol makes somethng up, quickly, as to not draw out time. "My birthday? I think I'm going to lunch with the girls, but other than that..."

Kirigiri looks thoughtful. "Nothing with your family?"

"No," Sayaka smiles, happiness paper-thin. "Nothing."

It only takes a few more seconds.

"Go out with me." 

Sayaka thinks, if she had been drinking anything at the time, she would have spat it gracefully across the room.

Instead, she stares blankly at the other girl, in a state of muted shock. Kirigiri, despite herself, is blushing faintly, but seems confident enough in her words that she doesn't make any move to take them back or elaborate. She simply sits, with her arms crossed, and waits.

Hang on, the idol is telling herself, as she slowly comes back to earth. "You mean, like, a birthday treat, right?" Sayaka chuckles cautiously. "It's okay, you don't have to! I'm used to it, and even if you don't believe it, I can cook dinner for myself!"

Kirigiri purses her lips, clicking her tongue once. "No. I mean... I'll take you to dinner. Because I want to."

The idol blinks, before she waves her arms about, as if it would help dissuade the girl. "No, no, really, it's okay! I'm fine spending the time alone, so don't worry about it!"

"You're not fine." She says, and it's a statement - not a question. "Well, you are ... fine, but not in that way. You're not okay."

Sayaka remains respectfully silent. What can she say to that? ... also, was she being flirted with?

Kirigiri clears her throat, "What I want to say is... I want to take you out to dinner on your birthday. But not only on your birthday. Like, I want to take you on other days, and I want to do lots of things with you. Together."

"But, you already can." The idol informs her quietly. "We're friends, aren't we? I'm sure my manager wouldn't mind, so..."

"I want to take you out on a date." Kirigiri clarifies, turning her head to face the window, effectively masking her expression. The detective wouldn't admit until much, much later, but Sayaka knows her face is righteously red. "I like you, Sayaka, and I want to be your girlfriend."

"Uumm," Sayaka blubbers inelegantly, evidently shocked by the outcome of this meeting. She, however, is not the type to run from dilemmas, so she doesn't do much else but flail for a few moments, trying to figure out her own feelings. It's... wrong to say yes and just leap into Kirigiri's arms - and gosh, did she just say  _Sayaka_  in place of Maizono?She feels like she's going to melt under that smooth, even voice - but she also knows that yes, she wants to do the wrong thing and just  _go for it._

She doesn't, of course, still wary and still careful with what she says and does. It's the side effect of being a celebrity, and of being in shallow relationships pre-idol status. She can't trust so easily as she can listen, and she knows that.

So, in place of fulfilling her impossible fairy-tale fantasy, she says in the calmest voice she can muster, "You're... awfully straightforward, aren't you?"

Kirigiri rolls her eyes, but it isn't at her expense. "I was curious about how you'd react. Naegi has been dropping hints about you liking me back for long enough, and I had to figure out for myself if that was true. To this moment, it is still a mystery, but that's what detectives are for, right?"

"Naegi," Sayaka hisses, on a slight tangent, and Kirigiri stifles a laugh. 

"I'm guessing he noticed something that wasn't there then."

"It's there!" The idol almost shouts, before she realizes that she's not only given her feelings away, but for the first time in a long time - she's let them out aloud. She is just as stunned as the other girl, at her sudden outburst. But the pieces are coming together. All those times she watched Kirigiri go, all the times her nerves acted up at the mention of her name, all the times she thought of reaching out and touching the long, enticing pale purple expanse of hair - or of holding that gloved hand tight in her own. Resuming a professional composure, Sayaka can only recite 'oh my god I hecked up so bad' in her head as she says, "I mean. It's there... if you want it to be there."

"I asked you out first." Remarks Kirigiri, out of amusement, but a flicker of relief crosses her face as she turns back to face Sayaka. "Is that a yes?"

This time, Sayaka can't even try to stop herself from blushing. "You are  _so_ direct, I don't know how you do it."

Kirigiri, bless her, finds satisfaction in this statement and delivers lines so smoothly Sayaka thinks she may have rehearsed beforehand. "You've got to take risks if you want to find the truth behind a mystery. Isn't that right?"

"... yes." Sayaka admits, and she's sure even her ears are red. "To both questions."

"Great." The detective replies, seeming cool-headed, but she looks as if she can't believe what is happening. "So, this Saturday?"

Sayaka nods shyly. She goes to say something, "Um, is it okay if..." but promptly shuts herself up. Though her guard is lowered, Sayaka can't bring herself to be selfish and tell of her true thoughts... she is a listener, through and through.

However, Kirigiri narrows her eyes at this reaction. "What is it? I'm not making you uncomfortable, am I?"

She shakes her head immediately and looks down in shame. As an idol, wasn't her job to make other people happy? Her feelings weren't important... and yet here she was, on the brink of spilling her heart out to the girl she only a second ago realized she had a full-blown crush on - and that said girl returned her feelings. "No! It's not that...! I just..."

"... let's take it slow." Kirigiri finishes for her, sensing the building tension. The usually collected girl looks flustered, but her eyes shine with resolve. "Don't push yourself into talking, if you're not used to it."

Sayaka's grateful for the intervention, but also increasingly confused. "What...? How did you...?"

"I think I've gotten the hang of your visual cues." Kirigiri tells her proudly. "Always correct me if I'm wrong, but I want us to work out so I'm not going to push you into anything you're not comfortable with. I'll listen to you when you're ready to speak."

And now, Sayaka wants to cry. "I don't deserve you," the idol says honestly, blue eyes cast downwards. She fiddles with her hair.

"You mean I don't deserve you." Kirigiri retorts, shaking her head. "But I'm willing to do this if you are."

"I really like you." Sayaka mumbles, a smile tugging at her lips as she speaks, tapping her feet consecutively on the ground to an unheard rhythm. "I really, really like you."

"... I'm not confessing to you again." Kirigiri mumbles in response. "That's all the heart-felt talking I'm going to do today."

"I really, really, really like you." 

"I get it, I get it."

"I really, really, really - "

"Sayaka, please."

"I would love to go to dinner with you this Saturday, Kyouko."

Her words finally catch up with Kirigiri, and the detective blushes terribly. "I'm glad."

Bright-eyed, Sayaka claps her hands together. "Will you listen if I tell you something super important, right now?"

"That's fine." The other blinks, "I'm all-ears."

She beams sweetly, testing the beautiful name on her tongue once more. "Hey, Kyouko, I really, really like you."

Kirigiri can only hold her steaming face in her hands. "You... complete and utter dork."

"Yes? I'm listening."

Sayaka Maizono is a listener. She's happy to listen, and perfectly content to keep a secret.

Maybe it isn't easy, listening, and maybe it's easier to let others sort things out themselves. She's learned that much, but still, she likes listening from time to time - as long as she's not chained by the burdens of others in every waking moment. Besides, it is because she listened to far too much for far too long, Sayaka also coincidentally met another listener.

That listener's name is Kyouko Kirigiri. 

"Kyouko, do you have a minute?" Sayaka pokes her head over her girlfriend's shoulder, brushing aside locks of pretty purple hair as she had always wanted to do.

"Yeah," the other nods, "Give me a sec."

"So you don't have like a zillion assignments due tomorrow? Lucky."

"Yes, because I'm not a procrastinator like you."

"You're busy though, with detective work, aren't you?"

"It's fine," Kyouko laughs airily, spinning around in her chair to catch the idol in a light half-hug. "Whatever it is, I'll listen."

And she does.


End file.
